


Choices Tear Us Apart (I don't want to live like that)

by ekbelfield



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Post-Season/Series 07 Finale, Reunion, multiverse/afterlife vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 11:17:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19945291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ekbelfield/pseuds/ekbelfield
Summary: Post Season 7.  After Felicity crosses over, Oliver is waiting.





	Choices Tear Us Apart (I don't want to live like that)

**Author's Note:**

> It's been awhile friends. I haven't written anything in a few years because I went back to school and didn't have the time to devote to my writing. Shaking off a bit of rust with this. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Major character death tag used to be safe - I'm a firm believer that no "death" in a comic book show is really final - but this takes place after the events of the Season 7 finale, and treats the characters as though they have "crossed over" so to speak.
> 
> The title is from Elaborate Lives, a song in the musical Aida.

Felicity blinked as the light faded. She was alone in a bright void. “Okay, I am getting some major Harry Potter vibes from this.” So she could still talk to herself, at least. She looked down to see she was still in the clothes she had been wearing when she said goodbye to her kids. “At least it’s the movie version.”

She took a few steps forward, into the nothingness in front of her, and as she walked structures seemed to materialize around her. It was brighter, brighter than it had ever been in life, but what was forming around her was _definitely_ the lair. It had been years since it had looked as pristine as it did now, her designs faithfully recreated by whatever material made up the void. It looked not quite corporeal, and as someone who hated mysteries, Felicity immediately wanted to know what it was, despite not knowing what touching the structure would do to it (and her).

She reached out to touch the railing, curiosity winning the war with sense, when a noise behind her startled her. She jumped, ripping her hands away from the rail, before laughing at herself.

She turned to see what had caused the noise, and her heart leapt into her throat. Standing in front of where the suits had once been in the lair, was Oliver.

She had changed a lot since she last saw him. She was older. Hardened by circumstance and burdened with knowledge.

But he... It was immediately apparent that he hadn’t changed at all.

As Oliver came into focus in front of her, she could see he was just as vibrant as he had always been. Stubborn. Reckless. A good man. She could tell just by looking that he was the same. His smile, his posture, the way his eyes drank her in like a man dying of thirst. It was just as she remembered.

He stepped towards her. “Felicity...” Drawn out. Reverent, like always. “You look...” he trailed off, a hitch in his throat.

Felicity subconsciously ran a hand through her hair. “I know it’s different, I-”

“ _beautiful._ ” He stepped forward fully, no longer resisting the urge to touch her.

His hands started at her shoulders, running down and up her arms, assessing her for injury as he had done countless times a lifetime ago.

Felicity’s mouth had snapped shut when he spoke. “Is this real?” She laughed a sob, her hands drawn to his chest, touching him back, confirming his existence. “I missed you.”

His hands slid up her arms one final time, then over her shoulders and up her neck to cup her face. He smiled down at her. “I missed you, too.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. Short and sweet. A hello after a long day at the office.

When he pulled back, he slid both thumbs up her face to wipe her tears.

She let herself smile, finally. “I don’t know what to say.” She laughed, giddy and disbelieving. “This has never happened to me before.”

Oliver’s nose crinkled in a smile. “There’s a first time for everything.” 

He took her hand, leading her through nowhere, destination indeterminate. The lair had faded, and their surroundings swirled, almost as if the environment had a mind of its own and was deciding what form to take.

Felicity looked around as they walked, but there was nothing to see. Nothing except the man at her side. She felt shy, suddenly. The way she had felt in those first weeks and months of knowing Oliver. It was nice to feel young again.

“How’re the kids?” Oliver laced their fingers together, and Felicity drew comfort from his touch.

“They’re ready.” It was all she could think to say in reply, yet she knew Oliver would understand.

“Thanks to you.” 

Felicity bit her lip. “And you. They are so much like you. Both of them.”

Oliver stopped walking, turned to her, and squeezed her hand. “I know the sacrifices you had to make. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to make them with you.”

This was the same man who started a crusade alone. The same man who broke a vow to save her life. The same man who chose death to save his friends. And yet somehow, he was worried about her sacrifices.

Felicity shook her head. “You really haven’t changed.” It was her turn to reach up a hand to cup his face.

There was a physical force to the happiness radiating off of him. “You’re exactly as I remembered you.” Felicity scoffed, went to withdraw her hand, but Oliver clutched her wrist, held her fast. “I don’t know how long it’s been for you. Time here is... not quite right. You can explain it to me when you figure it out.” Felicity let out a watery chuckle, smiling up at Oliver as he continued speaking. “It’s been two lifetimes and no time at all, all at once. I’ve missed you every second. I knew that when you got here, you’d be all that I remembered, and you are. But you’re also more.”

A structure started to materialize out of the nothingness in front of them.

“You are just as brilliant and bold as I remember. I can see it in your eyes.” He reached up to run a finger over the slight wrinkles that had settled in the furrow of her brow. “You’ve made your concentration face a lot since I left.” He smiled as his fingers trailed over her brow to the laugh lines by her eyes. “You’ve laughed a lot, too.” Another tear slipped out of Felicity’s eye, and Oliver again wiped it away. “You’re my _wife._ I’d know you anywhere.”

“I love you.” Felicity couldn’t do more than whisper around the tightness in her throat.

As she said the words, the structure that had begun to materialize solidified. It was a house. Felicity squinted. “Is that?” She laughed, disbelieving. “Is this our house?”

Oliver gazed at the house that he was ripped away from too soon. “I think the universe is trying to give something back.”

Felicity’s eyes grew serious. “Well, you earned it.” 

Oliver smiled down at her, squeezing her hand. “We both did.”

Felicity squeezed back, before leading him towards the front door. “Come on, I’ll cook you pancakes.”


End file.
